It is an electrifying time to be a member of The Backseat Lovers.

Guitar music’s indie rockers have been on a constant run, playing vibrant festival slots, selling out UK and European live dates, touring with Jack White and The Killers and writing and recording songs for their forthcoming second album, the follow up to ‘When We Were Friends’, released in 2019.

Joshua Harmon (lead vocals and guitar), Jonas Swanson (lead guitar and vocals), KJ Ward (bass guitar) and Juice Welch (drummer and vocals) are adapting to change in more ways than one, easing themselves into the accelerated process of growing up. Entering adulthood is part of a wide process for the Utah based four-piece, who just recently left their childhood homes. Forming in high school and local music scenes of Salt Lake City and Provo, the origins of the group revolve around authentic songwriting, raw live sets combined with a distinct DIY approach.

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Showing the true colours of their career ambition, they embrace this opportunity to be professional musicians. Being comfortable in that skin wasn’t necessarily straightforward at first, but now that the band are at ease with the decision they took, they can enjoy the support, not just from family and friends, but from an international, steeply growing fanbase. Racking up many millions of streams in the digital space, continuing to build their global following on their socials, things evidently are going from strength to strength for the group.

In their close friend and family circles, no one is a professional musician, Harmon tells Clash. “So it’s interesting to find my place socially and trying to ground myself with people who see me for what I am, and not just this guy in a band that charms the world. That’s been a learning experience, trying to figure out where we fit in.” The answer seems clear, there are lots of distractions all the time, and most of the time “it’s about reminding yourself” he accepts.

Released last week, ‘Growing/Dying’ is the band’s new single. Explosive, but intimate and absorbing the track is an accomplished listen. Subtly echoing some genuine greats, the sound holds its own while soft nods are made to artists like Andy Shauf, Radiohead and Jeff Tweedy. “Sonically we’ve been getting far more interested in having a unique sound,” admits Harmon. “We’ve been keen to explore our instruments even further. Look at what you’re sending your guitar signal through, and how to do it in a way that’s unique to us. It’s very inspiring.”

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The band’s refined approach shines through. One specific, contributing factor that’s behind this new approach is that musically they became more open and honest with each other. It was a gradual process, as they grew up and became young adults, they soon realised they wanted the music profession to be their line of work. Harmon believes that the real benefit of the closeness they gained as a band now is reflected in the music, mirrored on the new album ‘Waiting To Spill’ and some of the projects they are working on right now.

As the deepening maturity and confidence in their own purpose fed into the material they worked on, it also became the backbone theme of the album. Emerging from their progression as a band and as people, the songs became a reflection of where they are in a tight timeline, as they began to write the second album, still living at home with their parents, essentially getting ready to move out.

“That time of my life, it was complicated emotionally,” Harmon reflects. “One of the biggest parts of that was leaving my parents, at that point realising and being given that perspective, understanding or seeing the kind of sacrifice it is to have somebody giving their entire life and existence to helping someone else grow. A big part of that is developing as a person, you’re constantly growing.”

With the debut album mainly written by Harmon, ‘Waiting To Spill’ – set for release on Polydor in October – offers a songwriting approach that’s wide, far more collaborative. While Swanson and Harmon cowrite most of the songs, the biggest shift in sound derives from the chemistry they have been developing as a group. With sturdy, trust based relationships in place, more explosive, revelatory songs came to be. And with Grammy award-winning producer David Greenbaum at the roar, things were always destined to work out, and that’s precisely what happened.

They didn’t know Greenbaum prior to working with him, and more significantly, they had never worked with any record producer before. Swanson says the band were sending out ‘feelers’, sharing demos that they had made to see who would be right, who would get the songs and understand where they were coming from. That was before it all clicked with Greenbaum. “It seemed he really understood what we were trying to say. It was cool because we were able to work in a collaborative way, where we were very involved in the process of production. We had a lot of specific ideas, and he was there to really bring it all to life.”

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The producer was great at listening, and his main thing was always to see what they wanted to do. “He chimed in when we were trying to figure out what to do,” adds Harmon. “When we got to the end of something, it was more like ‘these are my thoughts on it’. He was very respectful.”

Having begun playing headline shows early on, rather than playing support slots for bigger artists, they created a reverse order of doing things that differs from most bands, but it has worked for The Backseat Lovers. It has been right for them. Instead, big support slots recently took them as far as playing alongside Jack White.

Playing three live dates in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver with the rock ‘n’ roll musician and producer back in June was an exciting experience they will cherish for quite some time. It was something new, and it inspired them “We had so much fun doing it,” Welch enthuses. “It was amazing. We got to play the songs in front of a big crowd. It was really great for us as a band.”

As they continue to build on their experience of playing live on the big stages, new ideas can be trialled though Harmon thinks that one approach is going to stay with them, “Writing a setlist, curating a batch of songs that we want to perform, we always follow our own instincts in the situation. Often we won’t know what the energy in the room is going to be, so we come prepared with all of our songs.”

The process of learning is ongoing for The Backseat Lovers as a band. Being on the road for such a large part of the year has intensified that journey. Bringing its own challenges along, they were thrown into a scenario where juggling life and work became a real issue, but so far it looks as if The Backseat Lovers have managed to create a balance between the two, they can make the most of the opportunities they are given, as they fully realise their dream of playing music for a living.

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